A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
The present invention relates generally to electronic organizers and, more particularly, to apparatus and methods providing integration of electronic organizers with cellular phone devices.
With each passing day, there is ever increasing interest in providing integrated solutions for connected information appliances. Here, the general environment includes xe2x80x9cappliancesxe2x80x9d in the form of electronic devices such as cellular phones, pagers, and battery-powered, hand-held devices (e.g., REX(trademark), Palm Pilot(trademark) and Windows(trademark) CE devices). Such a device, in typical use, is occasionally connected to a desktop personal computer or PC, which stores information for the user. Still further, the PC may be connected to a server computer, which stores information important to the user""s business. What the user really wants is an integrated solution such that information of each device remains available for use in other devices in a convenient, transparent manner.
This is particularly the case for cellular phones, given their tremendous popularity. Although cellular phones are commonplace, a cellular phone user today finds that his or her device is not well integrated with other electronic devices. Consider, for instance, a user who maintains address-book or xe2x80x9ccontactsxe2x80x9d information on a hand-held device. Despite having maintained extensive information about his or her contacts electronically, the user is forced to manually re-enter information into the cellular phone when placing a phone call. What the user wants instead is the ability to make calls and look up addresses and phone numbers, even check schedules and send electronic mail, from a single integrated solution. Yet to date, designers have struggled over how to integrate disparate informationxe2x80x94such as calendaring, scheduling, and contact informationxe2x80x94among disparate devices.
What is needed is a solution which combines telephony with personal information management in a single integrated hand-held unit. Given the millions of cellular phones in service today, such a solution would comprise a user-serviceable attachment allowing a legacy phone to be upgraded to a xe2x80x9csmartxe2x80x9d phone without requiring a change to the underlying phone equipment (i.e., in a manner which maintains compatibility with legacy hardware) and without requiring a complicated installation procedure. The present invention fulfills this and other needs.
The present invention provides a xe2x80x9cCamel-Backxe2x80x9d Digital Organizer (CDO) unit or system, that is designed to attach to a cellular phone in the same manner as an auxiliary battery, and to interface with the phone through contact points available in the phone""s interface port (e.g., StarTac(trademark) cellular port). The CDO unit is preferably implemented as an add-on component which can be easily attached and detached from a phone by a customer and, once in place, can dramatically enhance the phone functionality, converting the phone into a xe2x80x9csmartxe2x80x9d phone.
The CDO unit comprises a digital organizer having a main housing supporting, on its back or upper surface, a set of input/navigation buttons and a display screen. The set of buttons comprise a circular pad or circular configuration of buttons, placed at the bevel end of the unit, which are designed as a directional navigation disc or xe2x80x9cNaviDisc.xe2x80x9d The NaviDisc provides for LEFT, RIGHT, UP, DOWN, and SELECT buttons (i.e., five buttons total). The unit""s housing includes a gentle slope for facilitating user access to these buttons. The unit also includes a second set of buttons along its top edge, which are designed to mimic the rubber buttons on the phone itself.
In one embodiment, the present invention provides an electronic organizer allowing for independent operation and for operation with a telephone, and includes the following basic elements: a housing having an exterior surface and defining an interior; a memory in the interior of the housing for storing data; a user-visible display coupled to the housing and the memory for selectively displaying the data within the memory, wherein the display is operable when the organizer is physically independent of the telephone; and at least one connector coupled to the housing for removably mating the organizer onto the telephone to form an enhanced telephone unit. The connector includes a signal conductor for communicating data to the cellular or wireless telephone. In another embodiment, the present invention provides an enhanced telephone comprising a target telephone capable of stand-alone use by a user, the target telephone comprising a telephone housing; and an electronic organizer capable of stand-alone use by a user to organize data, the electronic organizer comprising a housing structure that includes a connector configured to removably attach the electronic organizer to the target telephone such that the combination of target telephone and electronic organizer is a physically integrated unit. In another embodiment, the invention provides a portable device for carrying data and attaching to a telephone to enhance the telephone, the telephone having at least one battery attachment location and a communication interface port, the portable device comprising a device housing having an upper surface; a memory underlying the device housing for storing the data; and at least one mechanical connector on the device housing configured to couple the portable device to the telephone at the battery attachment location.
In another embodiment, the present invention provides a portable electronic organizer for carrying data and attaching to a cellular or wireless telephone to enhance the wireless telephone, the wireless telephone having an existing attachment location selected from the set consisting of an existing battery attachment location and an existing communication interface port that carries telephonic communication, the portable organizer comprising a memory for storing the data; and a housing structure for containing at least the memory and configured to mate with the existing attachment location to make the electronic organizer and the wireless telephone together a handheld enhanced telephone. In yet another embodiment, the present invention provides a portable device for carrying data and attaching to a telephone to enhance the telephone, the telephone having at least one battery attachment location and a communication interface port, the portable device comprising a device housing having an upper surface; a memory for storing the data; and at least one mechanical connector on the device housing configured to couple the portable device to the telephone at the battery attachment location.
The recommended power supply for the portable organizer unit may be a conventional organizer power supply, such as a set of stacked watch batteries (e.g., CR2025) which are inserted into a battery compartment on the back side of the unit. A simple clip or screw cover is used to seal the compartment. The power consumption of the unit will, in typical use, be minimal such that a battery life of six months or better is realistic. Alternatively, the portable organizer may be adapted to selectively receive power for its operation from at least one of the organizer power supply or the telephone power supply. Similarly, the organizer power supply may be adapted to provide power to at least one of the portable organizer and the telephone, for operation thereof. Also, the portable organizer may be adapted to receive power for its operation from the organizer power supply for operation of the portable organizer, the organizer power supply may be adapted to withhold power from the telephone for operation of the telephone, where the portable organizer is capable of operation even if the telephone power supply is exhausted.
In typical use, the CDO device is used in tandem with a desktop computer or PC. The desktop PC is used by the user when xe2x80x9cat the office,xe2x80x9d and the CDO device is employed when the user is xe2x80x9con the roadxe2x80x9d (i.e., out of the office). Thus during typical use, large repositories of data reside on the desktop PC which are periodically transferred or synchronized with data residing on the portable CDO device. Multiple techniques exist for getting data from the desktop PC to the portable computing device, through device port(s). Using a device input/output (I/O) protocol or standard, data can be streamed from the desktop PC to the portable computing device via a direct cable (or infrared) connection, such as using a serial port-to-serial port connection. To facilitate communication of the CDO unit with devices other than the host phone, therefore, the unit includes at its base a small input/output stereo jack or coupler to be used, in conjunction with a plug-in cable, as a serial synchronization connection to an external device, such as a PC. The jack is exposed even when the unit is clipped onto the phone, allowing a user to connect the CDO unit to a PC without having to unclip it.
The CDO unit includes an interface for connecting a digital organizer to a cellular phone. The interface includes an attachment means for occasionally attaching the digital organizer to the cellular phone; a connection means for establishing communication between the digital organizer and the cellular phone, when the digital organizer is attached to the cellular phone; and a communication means for sending commands from the digital organizer to the phone for establishing a communication session between the digital organizer and the phone.
The CDO unit embodies system and application software. The system software includes a single purpose operating system (SPOS) which functions to provide a consistent mechanism by which applications can communicate with the device. In this manner, applications are shielded from hardware complexity, such as hardware interrupts and ports. Software application programs or modules are provided for user operation of the device. The application programs can be implemented as individual modules, which are controlled by a xe2x80x9cmodule selector.xe2x80x9d The module selector serves as a user interface or shell representing the top-level or xe2x80x9chomexe2x80x9d display presented to a user. In the currently-preferred embodiment, the module selector presents the user with selection icons for navigating to different applications or modules of functionality. In an exemplary embodiment, the applications include a contact module for addresses and phone numbers, a schedule module for calendar events, a xe2x80x9cto doxe2x80x9d list for various tasks, a memos module for arbitrary text documents, a world time module for clock settings and world travel time translations and a preferences module for various device settings and configurations. The applications interface with the phone through the phone""s interface connector. For instance, a customer can look up a phone number for a person in the contact module and press a button to initiate a call to that number.
Communication methodologies of the present invention are described for facilitating use of the organizer component with a host cellular phone. Exemplary methods include: a method supporting user-initiated voice call from the organizer; a method supporting synchronization of a host phone list (e.g., contact information list) with a corresponding digital organizer list; and a method providing a synchronization protocol between the digital organizer and any host (e.g., PC or server).
An exemplary method for communicating between a digital organizer and a host phone includes steps of selectively connecting the digital organizer to the phone, so that each can communicate with the other; displaying at the digital organizer a list comprising entries having phone number information; receiving input indicating a user request to dial a particular phone number displayed on the list; sending a first command from the digital organizer to the phone for attempting to establish a communication session between the digital organizer and the phone; and if a communication session can be established between the digital organizer and the phone, transmitting a second command from the digital organizer to the phone which instructs the phone to dial the particular phone number.
An exemplary method of synchronizing a phone list stored on a host phone with a corresponding list stored on a digital organizer includes steps of selectively connecting the digital organizer to the phone so that each can communicate with the other; receiving a request to synchronize the list stored on the digital organizer with the list stored on the phone; sending a first command from the digital organizer to the phone for attempting to establish a communication session between the digital organizer and the phone; transmitting a second command from the digital organizer to the phone requesting synchronization between the list stored on the digital organizer and the list stored on the phone, if a communication session can be established between the digital organizer and the phone; determining which list takes precedence during synchronization; and updating the list stored at the phone from the list stored at the digital organizer, otherwise updating the list stored at the digital organizer from the list stored at the phone, if the list stored on the digital organizer takes precedence.
The present invention further provides a method for providing a smart interface to a telephone which comprises the steps of providing an electronic organizer having a microprocessor and a connector that attaches to the handheld telephone to form a physically integrated unit; accepting user input on the electronic organizer when the electronic organizer is attached to the telephone; and in response to the user input, instructing by the microprocessor the handheld telephone to dial a telephone number.